Surgical complications of lung transplantation in children.

More than 4,000 lung transplantations have been performed in adults throughout the world, with the majority of those occurring since 1989. A number of centers have carefully reviewed their experiences and reported on the types and frequencies of various complications related to the procedure and the nature of the patient population. In contrast, fewer than 300 children have undergone lung transplantation, and their incidence and types of complications are not as well defined. This article reviews the literature and our own experience at St. Louis Children's Hospital on the complications of lung transplantation, focusing on that pertinent to children, but also deriving from the adult experience what is applicable to pediatric patients. This article will not deal with complications related to immunosuppression or rejection, which are covered in the previous article in this issue.